Trump reportedly blasted Mick Mulvaney over shutdown negotiations in front of congressional leaders

Mick Mulvaney.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

During a meeting attended by top Democratic and Republican leaders, President Trump jumped at the opportunity to take a swipe at his acting chief of staff and the way he is handling the government shutdown, two people with knowledge of the matter told Axios.

Things got awkward at the end of a Jan. 4 meeting held in the White House Situation Room, attended by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). After Vice President Mike Pence asked Democrats for $2.5 billion for the wall Trump promised would be built along the southern border, Trump demanded $5.7 billion, Axios reports. Mulvaney suggested they try to settle on a number somewhere in the middle, and that irked Trump.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.